Student meal plans
February 2016
Question:
1. A college student, who is otherwise eligible, lives on campus and has purchased a meal plan from the dorm for more than half of her meals. The college did not require this purchase of the meal plan.
2. A university requires students under age 20 to purchase 12 meals-a-week meal ticket. Students age 20 must purchase a minimum of 7 meals a week. Students age 21 and older have no minimum meal requirements. Are the students eligible to participate in the Food Stamp Program?
Answer:
Residents of an institution, with some exceptions, are ineligible. Individuals must be considered residents of an institution when the institution provides them with the majority of their meals (over 50 percent of three meals daily) as part of the institution’s normal services. Exceptions to this requirement include only those individuals listed in paragraphs (b)(7)(vii)(A) through (b)(7)(vii)(E) of Section 273.1(b). The individuals listed in these paragraphs can participate in the Program and must be treated as separate households from others with whom they reside, subject to the mandatory household composition requirements. Students do not meet any of the exceptions. It does not matter if the purchase of the meal ticket is required or by choice. If a student eats more than 50 percent of his/her meals in the dorm, he/she would be considered a resident of an institution and therefore, not eligible for participation in the Food Stamp Program. The worker will have to discuss with the student the number of weeks the student anticipates purchasing a meal ticket and determine whether or not the numbers of meals purchased exceeds 50 percent of three meals daily in any given month.
Returned Mail with No Forwarding Address
January 2016
Question:
A notice was sent to a SNAP household. The notice was returned by the post office with a stamp saying “undeliverable, no known forwarding address”. Does the local office have to issue a Request for Contact (RFC) first and then a closure/denial notice? Or is the post office’s notification considered adequate verification that the household has moved from the project area?
Answer:
It is the Food and Nutrition’s position that mail returned by the post office is considered “unclear information”. One cannot assume that because a client has moved, they have moved out of the project area. A defect in the address as recorded by the local office may be responsible for the returned mail. Section 273.12(c)(3) provides that if a State agency is confronted with unclear information they must attempt to verify it. Therefore, a RFC must be sent first.
Board Including Utilities, Group Living Arrangements
December 2015
Question:
We have clients throughout the state that live in group homes for disabled persons. In several of these homes, the clients are charged for rent plus additional fees that they sometimes call “board” or just “additional fees”. These fees include different things, but among those things included are meals, transportation and utilities. Since utilities are included in these fees, can we allow the SUA for these clients since they are separately billed for utilities (although this is lumped together with other expenses) and we could justify that they are billed based on individual usage which is the same for all residents as each resident uses an equal share of the heat?
Answer:
It would be critical to have these other expenses identified as to what it covers. If it is for utilities, the worker would need to clarify that it is for the heating/cooling costs or what other utilities. If it is for heating/cooling costs then the full SUA would be allowed. If the group home does not specifically address “utilities”, the SUA would not be allowed.
Non-citizen, Legal Permanent Resident, Military Connection
October 2015
Question:
A family applied on 10/6/15 & the wife is a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) without 5 years yet, but she’s married to a honorably discharged Marine. They brought in a copy of the SNAP Guidance on Non-Citizen Eligibility from the USDA. It states that certain qualified aliens need only meet one of the conditions to be eligible for SNAP & they highlighted “Military connection”. They have all the correct documentation for proving it, I just never ran into this before & wanted to check before coding her IN.
Answer:
SNAP Guidance for Non-US Citizens states: Military connection – an individual who is lawfully residing in a State and is on active duty in the military (excluding National Guard) or is an honorably discharged veteran whose discharge is not because of immigration status (includes spouse, surviving spouse if not married, and unmarried dependent children). A discharge “Under Honorable Conditions”, which is not the same as an honorable discharge, does not meet this requirement.
Medical Deductions, Lifeline
October 2015
Combined Manual 901(N)
Question:
Can we use Lifeline for a deduction as it is medical equipment but may not necessarily be prescribed by a physician?
Answer:
Lifeline service is a medical necessity and is an allowable medical deduction.
Child Care Travel Deduction, Mileage
October 2015
Question:
Client lives in Superior and works in Rock Springs. Her provider for child care is in Rock Springs. In looking at the travel for her, do we allow the mileage from her home in Superior to provider in Rock Springs, or from employer in Rock Springs to provider’s home in Rock Springs?
Answer:
The allowable deduction is home to provider (round trip) as long as the client doesn’t work at the daycare the child goes to.
Interim Report
October 2015
Combined Manual 1201(J)(2)
Question:
The combined manual states: send the notice “no later than the 1st day of the 12th month” not addressing if we can send it earlier and if we did, can we close prior to the 12th month.
Answer:
Pursuant to CM 1201(J)(2)(a): The assistance unit shall complete an interim report every 12 months to verify eligibility information. The F 315 Interim Report Notice shall be sent to the client no later than the 1st day of the 12th month. Sending the F 315 shall automatically trigger the DFS 309 Interim Report Questionnaire to be sent. If a client misplaces his/her DFS 309, a new DFS 309 can be requested from option nine (9) off of APEM in EPICS. If a client fails to return the DFS 309 within the given time frame, the case is to be closed for failure to provide the interim questionnaire. A report shall be available in CATS showing all cases with 24 month certifications at the 11th and 12th months. After the 12th month, the case shall no longer appear on this report. The interim report should be due sometime between the 1st day of the 12th month and the 12th day (this will allow 10 days to provide if there is a weekend preventing the notice from being sent the next day) of the 12th month. We shouldn’t be having it due within a time frame that would allow us to close before they receive their 12th month.
Re-opening case after closure for failure to provide verification
October 2015
Question:
If we pend an ongoing case for information and they do not provide by the date specified and the case is closed BUT they do submit the verification before the end of the month or deadline day should the case be reopened and worked with the provided verification? Or do they need to reapply the first day of the next month? This client already got benefits for Oct. – case was closed for failure to provide, verification was submitted a day late and wanted to reapply today.
Answer:
If verification is provided before the case closes, it can be reopened. If verification isn’t provided by the time the case closes, they have to reapply.
Example: verification due 10/15/15, on 10/16/15 verification wasn’t provided and case was closed for failure to provide as of 10/31/15:
1. Verification provided 10/29/15, case can be reopened.
2. Verification provided 11/01/15, client must reapply.
Prepaid debit cards, ReliaCards, VISA, Mastercard, American Express Gift Cards
October 2015
Combined Manual 806, Prepaid Debit Cards
Question:
These cards are typically loaded automatically by an employer, child support services, Social Security Administration, etc. How do we verify the balance on these types of cards? When can we request verification?
Answer:
These types of cards should be counted as cash on hand for the purpose of the Food Stamp Program resource test. Therefore, if an applicant declares they have such a card, food stamp offices should be instructed to accept household statements regarding the amount(s) on such card(s) without further verification just as they would if an applicant declared the amount of cash they have. The only time verification can be requested is if the client wishes to use the deposit history as verification of income, such as verification of the amount of child support received (typically from another state). Keep in mind, the amount deposited is the net amount of the income; an alternate source of verification should be used in lieu of this if you suspect this is the case.